For Auburn fans it was a day they thought they never see: the Alabama Crimson Tide coming to Jordan-Hare Stadium to face off with their beloved Tigers.
But on December 2, 1989, that very thing happened as the “Iron Bowl” was played at in front of a partisan Auburn crowd for the first time in the history of the rivalry.
When the Auburn-Alabama rivalry resumed playing in 1948 after a 41-year hiatus, it was played at Legion Field in Birmingham, the largest football stadium in the state of Alabama.
All subsequent games were played in Birmingham with ticket sales spilt 50-50 between both teams.
But in the minds of Auburn fans, Legion Field was seen as enemy territory as Alabama would play up to three games per year at Legion Field and statue of famed Bama head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant stood in front of the stadium.
Auburn fans clamored for the game to become home-and-home and allow for the game be played at the Plains, but Alabama officials offered up a number of reasons such as the size of Jordan-Hare Stadium compared to Legion Field.
But by the start of the 1980 season, Jordan-Hare had exceeded Legion Field in capacity, but Alabama still refused to move the game leading to Bryant’s successor at head coach, Ray Perkins, to say that the game would never be played in Auburn.
Finally after the contract to keep the game in Birmingham through 1988 expired, Alabama to have the “Iron Bowl” be played in Auburn on December 2, 1989.
If it were not enough that the Crimson Tide were coming to Auburn for the first time, this game had national and SEC championship implications as the Tide entered the game with 10-0 record and ranked #2 under third-year head coach Bill Curry, who had not defeated Auburn during his reign in Tuscaloosa.
Auburn was ranked #11 with a 8-2 record but defeating Alabama would earn the Tigers a piece of the SEC championship, making it the third straight year and fourth time that Auburn had won at lead a share of the SEC title since Pat Dye become head coach in 1981.
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| Alabama head coach Bill Curry and Auburn head coach Pat Dye meet before the 1989 Iron Bowl, the first time the game was played in Auburn. |
Auburn got the ball first and drove 68 yards in seven plays, with the big play being a 44-yard pass from quarterback Reggie Slack to Alexander Wright, for the game’s first touchdown, a 1-yard touchdown run by James Joseph to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead just 2:50 into the game.
Alabama went nowhere on their opening drive and were forced to punt, only to get the ball back when defensive tackle George Thornton recovered a fumble at the Auburn 21-yard-line, which led to a 24-yard field goal by Philip Doyle to cut the Tiger lead to 7-3.
Bama was poised to take the lead on their next offensive possession when Hollingsworth led the Tide offense on a drive from their 13-yard-line to the Auburn three-yard-line, where they had a 1st-and-goal.
However, the Auburn defense stiffened and seemed to hold the Tide to just a field goal as Doyle came on to attempt a 22-yard field goal, only to have the Tide fake the kick and go for the touchdown when holder Jeff Wall attempted to throw a pass to David Lenoir in the end zone.
But the pass was incomplete and the Tide came away with no points as they still trailed 7-3 after the end of the first quarter.
The score was still 7-3 midway through the second quarter when Alabama linebacker Keith McCants intercepted a Slack pass at the Tide 37-yard-line, leading to a 12-play, 63-yard drive that was capped off with a 18-yard touchdown pass from Hollingsworth to Marco Battle to give Bama its first lead of the game at 10-7.
It seemed that the Tide had seized control of the game as they held Auburn to zero points after their opening touchdown to take their 10-7 lead into the halftime break with a chance to increase it as Bama would get the ball to start the second half.
Auburn running back James Joseph(10) jumps for one of his two touchdowns.
Using a no-huddle offense, the Tide drove to the Auburn 30-yard-line where they faced 3rd-and-1 when for the second time in the game, Curry tried to surprise the Tiger defense for the second time in the game with a playaction pass.
But like the fake field goal that failed in the first quarter, this surprise did not work either as Hollingsworth’s pass was incomplete making it 4th-and-1.
Curry sent the field goal unit to salvage three points but even that failed when Doyle’s 47-yard field goal attempt fell short, giving the Tigers the ball back at their own 31-yard-line.
Slack threw an incomplete pass on 1st down, but connected with Shayne Wasden for a 58-yard reception that eventually led to a 2-yard touchdown run by James Joseph that put Auburn back up front at 14-10 with 10:36 left in the third quarter.
Bama responded with another drive into Auburn territory but once again disaster struck for the Tide when Kevin Turner fumbled the ball after a 17-yard reception as Tigers safety Dennis Wallace recovered the fumble for Auburn to give them the ball back at their 26-yard-line.
Then on the very next play from scrimmage, Slack would throw his third completion of over 40 yards as he hit Wright for a 60-yard reception to the Alabama 14-yard-line.
The Tigers would gain nine yards on the next three plays leading to a decision from Dye as they faced a 4th-and-1 at the Bama five-yard-line.
Dye stayed conservative and went for the field goal as Win Lyle was successful on his 22-yard field goal to increase the Auburn lead to 17-10 with 5:58 left in the third quarter.
After forcing a Bama punt, the Tigers drove 80 yards in 13 plays, culminating with 12-yard touchdown run by Darrell Williams on the fourth play of the fourth quarter to push Auburn’s lead into double digits at 24-10.
It only got worse for Bama on its next offensive play from scrimmage when Hollingsworth was picked off by linebacker Darrel Crawford at the Alabama 35-yard-line, giving Auburn a chance to put the game away.
Dye kept it on the ground as the Tigers did not attempt a pass on the drive as Auburn ran it five straight times to set up a 31-yard field goal by Lyle that made it a 27-10 game with 9:36 left in the game.Desperate for a score to have any chance of salvaging at least a tie, Bama went back to the no-huddle offense and drove 73 yards in just in 1:45 as Hollingsworth completed six passes in a row, the last one being a 15-yard touchdown to Battle, that trimmed the Auburn lead to 27-17 with 7:51 to play.
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| Auburn quarterback Reggie Slack completed 14 of 26 passes for 276 yards. |
The Tide stopped the Auburn offense on its next possession to force a punt and get the ball back at their 32-yard-line when Hollingsworth continued his hot streak by completing six straight passes to led Bama to the Auburn 18-yard-line where they had 2nd-and-1.
But after Turner was stopped for no gain on 2nd down and Hollingsworth threw his first incompletion after 12 straight completions on 3rd down, the Tide were faced with a do-or-die 4th-and-1.
The Tide would convert as Martin Houston ran for 7 yards to give Bama a 1st down at the Tigers’ 11-yard-line.
However, the Tide only gained four yards on the next three plays and needing a field goal to have any chance of tying or winning the game, Curry sent the field goal unit onto the field.
Doyle drilled the 23-yarder to cut the lead to 27-20 with 1:49 left in regulation to make the Auburn faithful nervous as they knew an onside kick was coming up on the ensuing kickoff.
However, backup quarterback Frank McIntosh recovered the onside kick for Auburn and after six straight runs for 30 yards that forced Bama to burn their three timeouts, Lyle came on to kick a 34-yard field goal that clinched the 30-20 victory for the Tigers and a share of the SEC title.
Despite the loss, the Tide were still invited to play in the Sugar Bowl where they lost 33-25 to the Miami Hurricanes, which led to a contract offer from the University of Alabama to extend Curry but did not include a raise and take away his power to decide who would be on his coaching staff.
Curry was so insulted by the offer that he left Tuscaloosa and became the head coach for the University of Kentucky.
On the other hand, Auburn would defeat Ohio State 31-14 in the Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa to give the Tigers their fourth straight 10-win season and #6 final ranking.
The 1989 win was the last time Dye led Auburn to a victory over the hated Crimson Tide as he would lose the next three meetings in Birmingham before resigning after the 1992 season.
The “Iron Bowl” returned to Auburn in 1993 and alternated with Birmingham until 2000 when the Tide moved their portion of the home-and-home back to Tuscaloosa, making the rivalry a true home-and-home series
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| Auburn fans celebrate after the Tigers knocked off the Crimson Tide 30-20,ending Alabama's chances of an undefeated season. |
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